Your exclusive Mimi Knoop interview

We love exclusive things – and this next one is all thanks to you!! The second in our series of pop quizzes with professional riders is with Mimi Knoop and she kindly agreed to answer all your questions!! You all certainly made a one of a kind interview – so read on to hear about zoo’s, singing, having a heighted sense of taste and of course a healthy portion of skate goodness.

(Penny) Do you still get nervous when you enter a competition?
Yes, I always get nervous competing! You just learn to deal with the butterflies over time.. but it never goes away!

(Olivia) In 50 years time, when you’re chillingout on your front porch rocking chair, which X Games (or othercompetition) that you entered, will you look back on and remember themost? Why?
Iwill remember my meeting at X Games with the President of ESPN- When our work through the Alliance helped lead to equal prize purses for women & men. This not only helped create moreopportunities for girls in skateboarding- it also helped women in all disciplines featured at both summer and winter X Games.

(Wale) Are you any good at kareoke? If you had to sing a song what would you go for?!
No, I am horrible at karaoke! I am too shy to get up there and sing.. and if I did sing, I would probably hurt someone’s ears!

(Eve) you’ve got quite an unusual name -well it seems unusual to me!! – is there any story behind your firstname or surname? have you got an embarassing middle name? I do!!
Myname, Mimi is actually a nickname. When I was little learning to talk,I couldn’t say “Mommy”. I said “Mimi” instead. After awhile my Mom gotfrustrated and said, “No, you’re Mimi! I am Mommy!”. And she started calling me Mimi. It stuck eversince!

(Rib T) If you could have just one heightened sense – what would it be? Sight, hearing, touch, smell or taste? Why?!
If I had a heightened sense, it would probably be taste so good food would taste that much better! I love to eat!

(Emily) If you were invisable for a day, would you do anything that people wouldn’t have expected of you?
Probably not. I tend to keep to myself anyway!

(Adriana) What two songs are you playing most on your ipod at the moment?
Hmm..this is a hard one b/c I listen to alot of different music. I can’ttell you which songs- but the artists I have listened to lately areprobably the Who and Eminem.

(Varsha) What do you like to do when you have free time?
Icreate alot of art- I recently designed some stuff for a couple of mysponsors. I have always been an artist, so it’s really nice to combineit with my skating. I also do alot of resistance stretching to stayhealthy and I also ride my bike.

(Lucy) Who’s your favourite skater and why?
I have alot of favs.. I like Alex Perelson, Bob Burnquist, Peter Hewitt, Jeff Grosso, and Trey Winslow to name a few.

(Mary) If you could go back in time – when would you go to?
I would probably go back to when I was 10 years old. I have great childhood memories!

(Marieke) which trick do you like the most?
I like tricks that may not be the hardest tricks- but they look good. Like stalefishes, smith grinds, etc.

(Cereza) Who or what would you want to be for a day ?
Sometimes I wonder what animals are thinking- so maybe I would be a cat or a dog for a day? What goes on in their heads anyway??

(Rosie) Most embarassing thing that’s happened to you? (that you can share!!)
No comment! Haha

(Tony) Do you care about how you dress in comps?!
Well, I always wear Nikita! And I like to mix it up each time.. I don’t like to wear the same thing all the time.

(Eve) What has your worse job been?
Cleaningup poop at the Zoo pretty much tops my list. But, it was a goodexperience! I had to do that one summer in high school.

(Sally) Are you scared of anything (like spiders!)?
Yes! Spiders scare me! And so do snakes… yuck!

(Della) What’s the best book you’ve read recently?
I read alot of books. Lately I have liked the Ender’s Game series. It’s just a fun sci-fi series to read for fun.

(Carla) If you could make one wish for yourself what would it be? (and you can’t wish for more wishes!!)
To have my family live closer to me!

(Heather) Do you think its harder for girls to get into pro skate boarding than guys?
No- it’s not harder to get into- it’sjust harder to stay in it! There are fewer opportunities for the girlsand it’s hard to get by for alot of girls. When we have more events,contests, & demos geared towards women it will be better for thegirls coming up.

(Heather) A lot of skate boarders I know alsolove to snowboard. Do you snow board and if not,is some other extremesport you like to do when your not skating?
I don’t snowboard- mainly b/c I hate being in cold weather! I do love to surf though..

(Sophie) Would you EVER sing skater boy?
Nope! Haha

– do you ever call anyone poser?
No! I don’t call people names.. as long as they are having fun, then it doesn’t matter if they good or not!

(Rose) How old were you when you started sk8boarding?
I was around 10 when I started skating alot. But I didn’t skate vert, bowls, or ramps until I was much older in my early twenties.

(Chica) Would you rather be too hot or too cold? Why?!!
That’s a hard one. I think I would rather be too hot!

A huge thank you to Mimi for her time and answers – and a big shout out to all of you who asked a question!! We’ll be having the third of our community interviews very soon, but in the meantime the prize for best question, goes to Rose (8 nearly 9 yrs). We hope you were inspired by Mimi’s answer to your question? You have technically started skateboarding earlier!! The prize is on its way to you.